Although I love maps, and am never comfortable
traveling without real paper maps, the GPS receiver & software
has made county level maps available for the entire country, either
on
a laptop or a dash mounted device. You can still get lost, but a
GPS system will always help you back on track. This page contains
links to maps & GPS information.
I also have listed links to POI sources & converters at the bottom of the page.

Pre Interstate US Highway Map (Added 9/3/10) As its name implies, this is a 1955 US map that shows the highway system prior to the building of the interstates.

PC Miler Navigator: Truck Navigation (Added 4/19/10) Although I have not added links to manufacturers of GPS receivers before, this company specializes in GPS receivers for trucks (which will work well for RVs as well).

Truck Driver GPS Review (Added 4/19/10) As the site name implies, this is a review & comparison of a couple of the GPS receivers designed for truck, bus & RV use.

iTouchMaps.com (Added 5/10/09) A collection of Maps and Utilities for the PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and Smartphones.

The Photographer's Ephemeris (Added 12/30/12) Available as an Android or iPhone/iPad App or a Windows or Mac application, "The Photographer's Ephemeris (TPE) helps you plan outdoor photography shoots in natural light, particularly landscape and urban scenes. It's a map-centric sun and moon calculator: see how the light will fall on the land, day or night, for any location on earth. TPE for Desktop is the original – and free – version of the program, and is the premier outdoor photography planning tool used by thousands of photographers, amateur and professional, around the world."

Heavenly Opportunity (Added 1/9/09) Another application designed to determine sun & moon rise & set. Unfortunately, it is a PC application & I am a Macintosh user, but for the rest of you it is worth checking out.

Travbuddy (Added 12/13/07) A site that lets you make a map highlighting countries around the world as well as US states & Canadian Provinces. It will also let you know what percent of the world you have visited. If you become a member, you can create a map that shows your future travels.

WayMarking (Added 4/12/07) "Waymarking.com provides tools for you to
catalog, mark- and visit interesting and useful locations around the
world." You will get weekly email messages with updated locations if
you sign up, but this is an interesting site that provides the coordinates
of many places around the US & throughout the world.

RoboGEO (Added 6/7/06) So
you have a GPS & a digital camera. Combine
them with RoboGEO software & you can create Google Maps or build
KML/KMZ files to display using Google Earth. Lots more applications
described
on their site.

Public Land Information
Center (Added 4/16/06) "There is a lot to do on our public lands!!
Public Lands Information Center can help you find the best recreation
areas open to the public in New Mexico, Arizona, and the rest of the
West. Check back here for regular updates on recreational opportunities,
campfire restrictions, what's open, what's closed, and what's burning." A
good source for Public Land maps.

Libre Map Project (Added 8/16/11) For anyone interested in US maps including outlines, Topo 24K and GIS Data this is a good place to start. All are free.

PropertyLineMaps and Gmap4 (Added 4/6/13) "Our services let you build a URL and then use that URL to share your map with others via a clickable link. Each map sharing service is based on Google Maps plus additional features. You can view and print detailed topographic maps that cover the USA and Canada. We offer two different map sharing services."

Global Maps (Added 2/8/08) If you need Garmin map of Mexico, Iraq, Iran or Afganistan, this is a place to look. Not free, but compatible with Garmin's Mapsource.

SatNav for the SilkRoute (Added 2/20/08) Some interesting approaches to using a GPS with Fugawi software to load paper maps when commercial software is not available.

US Road Distances (Added 2/27/13) This site does the same thing as Google Maps; lets you enter two locations & build a road map & directions between them. Some may find it easier to use.

MapMuse (Added 11/2/08) "MapMuse was born out of a desire to find better ways to search for places of interest than existing text-based or map searches. We wanted a map search without the usual limitations; one that could display thousands of places from multiple categories simultaneously. For example, with MapMuse you could easily create a map showing ski resorts that also shows the closest hotels in your price range. Or you could map of all the golf courses in your state, and then search for those with the highest rating.
We allow our visitors to view up to 2000 places of interest on a single map without any geographic limits."

Open Street Map (Added 2/20/08) As its name implies, "OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world. It is made by people like you. OpenStreetMap allows you to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth. OpenStreetMap's hosting is kindly supported by the UCL VR Centre and bytemark."

Google Earth (Added 8/7/07) Google Earth is an application available for Mac, PC or Linux that provides maps of the world. There is a limited free version; for a nominal fee a full version that can be used with a GPS to serve as a full live mapping program (as long as you have an internet connection). Lots of features in either version including "flying" from place to place!

Flash Earth (Added 8/7/07) Flash Earth lets you switch between displays of Google Maps, Microsoft VE, Yahoo Maps, Ask.com, or NASA Terra (Daily updated images). It is web based so you don't need to have an application on your computer.

Tyre (Added 7/20/07) "What do you have to do to make Google Earth and TomTom work together as a good team?
As a matter of fact, it is really simple. I wrote a small application myself. Everyone may download and use it freely.
You can use it to create itineraries (route files) and also to create files with points of interest.

Navteq Map Reporter (Added 5/31/07) Tired of incorrect roads, bridges that are not there any more, and other GPS errors? Navteq supplies the maps that most GPS software uses. Use this form to submit errors that you would like corrected.

Panoramio - Photos of the World (Added
1/14/07) At this site you can search Google maps for photos from around
the world. Not only that - you can add your own!

GPS Visualization (Added
12/7/06) "This form will import your GPS data file and create a
KML file that you can view in the Google Earth application." They
also have a link to Google
Maps, "a form that will automatically draw your GPS data (or
KML/KMZ file, or plain text data in CSV or tab-delimited format) overlaid
upon street maps and satellite imagery in Google Maps."

GPS Track Photos & Maps This
is an unusual site - sign up & you
can overlay a GPS track in simple latitude/longitude comma separated
file, Garmin Mapsource text file and Delorme Map'n'Go & Street
Atlas (GPL) formats over an aerial photo or topographical map. Public
tracks
(samples) are available.

Franson GPS Gate (Added 10/15/06)
Franson sells software designed to support GPS use on Pocket PCs & Windows
computers. Their GPS
Gate software will let you create virtual serial ports so
that you can run many GPS applications using one GPS.

XPort (Added 5/31/07) And if you don't want to pay for the software listed above, XPort is free and also allows your GPS to connect to more than one port at a time.

GPS Review Forums - Garmin Nuvi (Added 3/12/12) For those with Garmin Nuvi series GPSs, this may be a useful site for finding information & discussion the product.

Google Maps Google also has a
mapping program that links with satellite images. It's good to see the
competition between Microsoft & Google - It can only make the maps, images
& resolution get better.

Take It With Me (Added 9/23/07) "Use this tool to upload Google My Maps directly to your Garmin GPS or convert them to GPX format. Simply copy a My Maps URL into the form and click 'Load My Maps' to get started."

GPS Magazine (Added 7/11/09) "GPSmagazine is an e-zine that publishes the most in-depth GPS reviews available. GPSmagazine.com has quickly become the Internet's most recognized and trusted source of GPS reviews, news, and product recommendations."

GPS Now If you are interested in a
Garmin brand GPS, GPS Now is a good place to compare their products.
Although they also carry a few other brands, Garmin is their primary
supplier.

Garmin Forums (Added 3/8/10) The "official" Garmin forum. A good place to get information about your Garmin GPS & Maps.

GPS Information.net Just what
its name implies - a great source for information about GPS receivers
& software. Particularly useful for information on older models and links
to just about anything GPS related.

GPS POIs (Points of Interest) GPS Maps, & Editors:

The Discovery Owners
Association - Even if you don't have a Discovery Motorhome, check
out the Campground
Information page. It is very useful locations for anyone using
Microsoft's Streets & Trips or Delorme's Street Atlas GPS Mapping
software, and includes a list of every Walmart, Post Office and more
in Excel formats that anyone can use.

GPS
Passion Lots of up-to-date information about GPS receivers and
software. They also have a forum you can join to get into discussions
about hardware & software.

Above the Timbers (Added 2/27/11) If you are looking for Topo maps for your Garmin of some of the western states, this is a good place to start.

GPS File Depot (Added 7/11/09) "Welcome to GPSFileDepot. This site is becoming the ultimate source for GPS files including custom maps, custom points of interest, ximage hosting, articles, tutorials, and tools to help you with your projects. Currently we have 264 custom maps with over 212 thousand downloads, a few tools, many tutorials, and image hosting. Keep checking back for the newest updates/upgrades."

Laying
Down Tracks (Added 4/12/07) This is a forum on the Adventure
Riders motorcycle site that contains many GPS tracks that
can be downloaded to your PC &
uploaded to your GPS. Be sure to read the "Lost or confused, before
you ask another dumb question, click here " Sticky for info on
how to use the forum.

GPSBabel (Added 9/23/07) GPSBabel converts waypoints, tracks, and routes between popular GPS receivers and mapping programs. It also has powerful manipulation tools for such data.

Load My Tracks (Added 9/23/07) GPS Connectivity for your Macintosh "LoadMyTracks is a piece of software that will communicate with GPS devices from many manufacturers to send and receive data. It can also be used to translate data between the popular GPX and KML (Google Earth) formats. The software provides support for Waypoints (single locations in space), Routes (lists of waypoints that can be used as instructions of where to go, Tracks (the breadcrumbs that many GPS devices keep to show where you have been) and additional data that may vary by device."

TurboCCC - TTS Voice Editor (Added 12/30/09) Alright, you are bored with the voices coming out of your Garmin. Here is an application that lets you change the wording, volume, rate, etc of many Garmin GPS receivers.

G7ToWin (Added 9/23/07) G7ToWin is an application for transferring data between your PC & GPS. Quoting the web page: "G7ToWin is compatible with versions of Windows from Windows 98 and later. G7ToWin is designed to transfer data between Garmin, Magellan, or Lowrance/Eagle GPS units and a PC. Supported Lowrance/Eagle units include those which communicate via Lowrance Protocol version 1 or 2. This includes most units up to and including the GlobalMap 100. It specifically excludes most of the later LEI units including the iFinder which does not use either protocol." There is also a version for the Pocket PC, H/PC 2000, H/PC 2.11 and greater.

Google Send to GPS (Added 4/16/08) "The Send to GPS service allows you to search for any business address and transfer it from the Google Maps website to your Garmin device via its USB connection. The point will be saved as one of your Favorites, and you can navigate to it or view it on a map just like any other Favorite."

POI
Loader (Added 4/1/07) This page provides a tutorial & general
information on using Garmin's POI loader. It is part of the GPS
Information.net website.

POI
in USA (Added 9/23/06) This is part of the GPS Passion site that
discusses & lists Points of Interest that can be added to most
GPS units.

POI Factory (Added 12/19/06) Miss "Poi" maintains
a site with over 1,000,000 points of interest to add to your GPS software.
Also has a forum if you
have questions or input.

GPS Data Team (Added
3/10/07) Free POIs for the US as well as other countries. Use it as a
stand alone locater, or download POI files in many different GPS unit
formats.

POI 66 (Added 3/10/07) Many world wide POIs. Use it as a
stand alone locater, or download POI files in many different GPS unit
formats.

PoiEdit (3/9/07) PoiEdit is a
shareware program that manages all of your poi (places of interest) files
from
your desktop PC and saves/loads them to/from your Mobile Device. PoiEdit
also enables you to download a vast range of poi files from the most
uses poi sides in e.g. the UK, Netherlands, France.

POI Editor (Added 3/10/07) Use
this to edit & convert POIs. You can also locate a point using Google
Map, and add the coordinates to a POI file.

GPS Visualizer (Added 1/2/08) This page from the GPS Visualizer web site lets you enter a street address, a ZIP code, a city, or an airport code & get the coordinates as well as a button to show the location on a couple of mapping sites.

GPS Coordinate Converter #2 (Added 2/8/08) "This utility permits the user to convert latitude and longitude between decimal degrees and degrees, minutes, and seconds. For convenience, a link is included to the National Geodetic Survey's NADCON program, which allows conversions between the NAD83 / WGS84 coordinate system and the older NAD27 coordinate system. NAD27 coordinates are presently used for broadcast authorizations and applications." Provided by the FCC.

Map Multiple Locations by Address (Added 1/2/08) "Locate multiple addresses internationally - North America & Europe - calculate distances - make your own mashup map - instantly. Take any kind of street address list, for example copied from Excel, and geocode the addresses to get latitude and longitude coordinates using the tool below. The data can then be mapped in your browser, downloaded into Google Earth, saved to a web page, or transferred back into your spreadsheet. You can also use this tool to calculate distances to multiple addresses from a single point, or get quick driving directions to multiple destinations. Mapping multiple locations with your own custom data takes seconds, just follow the 6 steps below to plot your own data on a fully interactive multi-point map. It's fast, easy, and - free to use!" The author also maintains a Geocoding blog.

Batch Geocoding (Added 5/25/16) Another site that can be used to convert addresses to latitude and longitude coordinates.